Liberty
Matters News Service
August 2, 2007
53,741 Fires; 3,788,883 Acres Burned So Far
Western forests and prairies are ablaze again. As of July 20, there have been 53,741 fires in the western United States since January 1. The fires have burned 3,788,883 acres and there are months of warm weather yet to go. This year's fires will probably surpass last year's record 4,676,830 acres of burned timber and destroyed grasslands, not to mention habitat of untold numbers of endangered species. Ranchers are seeing their summer range go up in flames and they are hot under the collar about government mismanagement of the public lands. "The way we manage our resources today is to let it burn," said Harney County, Oregon Commissioner Jack Drinkwater of Burns. "We need to go back to the days when we logged and let the cattle in there to eat the grass. Then there wouldn't be all that fuel for these catastrophic fires," he said. Oregon's U. S. Rep. Greg Walden visited the site of the huge Egley Complex Fire after being deluged by calls from angry constituents. Walden told a crowd of about 50 ranchers, agency personnel and concerned citizens the law needs to be changed to keep environmentalists from blocking forest and range management techniques. "We need to get to the fire, put out the fire and get in to salvage," Walden said. "190 million acres of land nationwide need treatment." Idaho ranchers have also been hit hard as the fire in the 975 square mile Murphy Complex has killed unknown numbers of cattle. "This didn't have to happen," said Rep. Bert Brackett to The Times-News of Twin Falls as he stood over the charred body of a cow. "Had more cattle been allowed to graze, there would have been less available fuel." stated Bracket. Jon Marvel, executive director of the Idaho-based environmental group Western Watersheds Project, disagreed. "There is no scientific evidence that cattle or sheep grazing prevents fires at any time," he said. "If ranchers have evidence that grazing prevents fires, they should produce it." It is Marvel's group, however, that has worked for decades to remove cattle from the area. The wealthy Sun Valley architect's organization has filed countless lawsuits against the BLM in an attempt to force the agency to fulfill Marvel's political agenda against the ranchers. Meanwhile, a northern Idaho man says firefighters set a backfire that destroyed his $1.2 million guest ranch, including an indoor riding arena. And another northern Idaho resident reported that his home was looted after he fled a fire near Waha. Utah ranges have been equally devastated. The Milford Flat Fire burned over 360,000 acres in July and many think the Bureau of Land Management made things worse by not allowing enough cattle to graze rangeland and permitting piñon-juniper forests killed by bark beetles to remain standing. Utah State Senator Dennis Stowell, (R-Parowan), said, "I just feel like [we have] failed environmental policy in the whole country. We've got a lot of fuel build-up, a lot piñon-juniper. We're not managing the land enough." The people who bear the burden of government land mismanagement know how to solve the problems; question is will the politicians ever figure it out?
Some Blame BLM Policies for Huge
Blaze
Walden Hears Angry Voices as
Flames Destroy Range
Firefighting
Costs Out of Control, Says Panel
Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Stopping Logging in
Ore. Case
Idaho Lawmaker Blames
Grazing Restrictions for Wildfires Size
"Maybe the Worst Farm Bill, Ever"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is being blasted from coast to coast for pushing through one of the worst examples of pork-barrel politics in recent memory. USA Today: "The Democratic Majority Botched its Opportunity To Wean Farmers From Government Handouts." Los Angeles Times: "Pelosi's Bad Farm Bill." The Wall Street Journal: "The Veto Is Looking More Attractive By the Moment." San Diego Union Tribune: "This Is No Way To Run A Government." Rocky Mountain News: "Maybe The Worst Farm Bill Ever." Pelosi defended the 781-page bill, saying; "This signals change and a new direction." "Future farm bills will never look the same," she said. The $286 billion bill loads up goodies for wealthy farmers, some of whom are already millionaires. Some of the costs are to be paid for by a new tax on U. S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, a move a Los Angeles Times editorial says "might violate international treaties." The bill raises price guarantees for corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybean growers at a cost to taxpayers of $7.5 billion a year. Taxpayers will have to pony up another $1.4 billion to subsidize cane and beet sugar producers so they won't have to cut back acreage when the unlimited Mexican sugar imports start next year in compliance with NAFTA. The U. S. government will have to buy U. S. sugar surpluses and sell it to ethanol plants for a reduced price. Additionally, Democrats slapped a new "conservation fee" on some offshore oil and gas leases to help pay for mandatory new spending on food for children abroad. It would "recoup billions of dollars in royalties lost because of faulty federal leases with companies operating in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico," reports the Washington Post. The American Farm Bureau Federation, heaps mountains of praise on Pelosi's bill, however, saying it is a "skillfully crafted bill" that addresses the concerns of taxpayers. "Overall, this bill directly benefits America's taxpayers because it is fiscally responsible, spending $20 billion less than the prior farm bill," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "[H. R. 2419] strikes a reasonable balance in allocating benefits among our nation's farming and ranching families who grow a safe and secure supply of food and fiber for America and the world...and it preserves a way of life that benefits all of American society," continued Stallman You be the judge.
House Passes Massive Farm
Bill
Farm
Bureau Praises House Farm Bill Reform
Perfect Nonsense
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee must have their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing the public outcry against out-of-control spending and demands for stronger private property rights protection in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court Kelo ruling. How else to explain the Committee's approval, last week, of pork-barrel legislation and increased federal control of private property? S. 278, the "National Heritage Areas Partnership Act," would establish "a system of National Heritage Areas" throughout the country, leading to de facto control of private property by government and special interest groups. "The National Heritage Areas Partnership Act would establish a 'system of National Heritage Areas' throughout the country, leading to creation of even more new national heritage areas," according to Peyton Knight, National Center For Public Policy. The federal government (taxpayers) makes funds available to special interest preservation groups that partner with the National Park Service to manage local land use policy. The august group of senators also approved S. 289, S. 443, S. 444, S. 800, and S.955 to create five new national heritage areas, including the contentious "Journey Through Hallowed Ground." S. 817 and S. 1182 would expand the boundaries and/or increase funding for six existing national heritage areas and corridors. S. 169 would allow the federal government to grab land adjacent to ten existing National Trails. All of these bills facilitate and accelerate the implementation of the Wildlands Project that will eventually set aside over 50 percent of the landmass of the United States. With Congress' help, we are witnessing the demise of private property at an alarming rate.
Senate Committee Passes Parade of Pork -
Threatens Property Rights
From the People's Republik of Kalifornia
Last month, the city council for National City, California unanimously voted to use the power of eminent domain to seize a non-profit gymnasium along with 600 other private properties and replace them with upscale condominiums. "We're going to fight the city's outrageous plan to take away our gym so a developer can build condos for rich people," said Victor Nuñez, vice president of the Community Youth Athletic Center (CYAC) and a San Diego County Deputy District Attorney. "We're doing what we teach our kids to do; we're standing up for what is right." The CYAC teaches boxing to low-income, minority kids. It has just three months to challenge the City Council's eminent domain proclamation and has enlisted the help of the Institute of Justice to fight the city's takeover. "National City has completely ignored state law by going ahead with its plans to replace this working class community with upscale development," said Dana Berliner, senior attorney with IJ. "The city is using a bogus study to declare thriving, though humble businesses 'blighted' so their property can be transferred to private developers," Berliner continued. "The gym intends to fight this outrage in court, not only for itself, but to establish precedent to protect all Californians." Kelo marches on.